UNIMA CENTRE AUSTRALIA SEPT'93 Ed: Jennie Pfeiffer 17 Miller Street West Melbournejc.:>Q5 Tel: (03) 329-9481

PRESIDENT: SECRETARY: TREASURER: Jennifer Davidson Michele Spooner GarryFuhrmeister 62 York Street 201 George Street 28 Arkrose Street Sandy Bay TAS 7005 Fitzroy VIC 3065 Eight Mile Plains QLD 4113 tel: (002) 23-6546 tel: (03) 417-6446 tel: (07) 341-5028

1NT'ERNATIONAL PUPPETRY ORGANISATION UNIMA CENTRE AUSTRALIA SEPT'93 Ed: Jennie Pfeiffer 17 Miller Street West MelbourneJc.:>q5 tel: (03) 329-9481

Dear Members Brisbane Puppet Festival. Work continues, with .June '95 being the proposed date: The Committee organising the Festival have asked for a grant to help cover some of the costs involved and will be continuing with their planning over the next months. They would like to receive your- ideas and suggestions for the content of the Festival. Contact:- Pat Zuber, 104 Walnut St, Wynnum, Brisbane. Queensland 4178.

Lowdown. The youth theatre magazine will be producing the next issue with the focus on puppetry. If you have information about your work you would like to contribute to Lowdown contact them. They will be glad to hear from you. Address :- Polly O'Neil, Lowdown. Carclew, 11 Jeffcott St, N. Adelaide, 5006

Figeuro'94 Festival. Focuses on European Puppet & Figuretheatre. From the 17 to 24 of July 1994 the European Figurenteatercentrum in Gent Belgium will organise the third edition of it's international festival figeuro. Figeuro is an open air festival held in the beautiful 17 century court of a monastery in the ce,:1tre of Gent. It is part of the Gentse Feesten, a city festival a with thousands of visitors. Artists can send their information and material (photos, press cuttings, videos) to the festival programmer: - Freek Neirynck, Europees Figurenteatercentrum, Trommelstraat 1, B-9000. Belgie. or fax it to 32 / 09 /223. 12 . 15. /i � ])

Wishing you all the best in puppetry. ��v \ �¼A-

UNION INTERNATIONALE CE LA MARIONNETTE FOUNDED IN 1929. MEMBERm. OF (UNESCO) IPA.GIB 2 IPA.Gl!B 3

• That the Steering Committee provide a comprehensive list of News .Prow. venues within the central buisiness district of the chosen location.

the Mo.--\-h •Continue to liaise with Jennifer Davidson and Andrea Taman on outcome of meetings etc.

Jennifer Davidson and Andrea Taman will NATIONAL PUPPETRY CONFERENCE/FESTIVAL 1995 •liaise with UNIMA members to determine a schedule of guests and performance which make up the CONFERENCE program. Notice to all interested parties and more specifically to the nominated working party of the National Puppetry Festival and Conference. •Seek participation from Australian industry members, both as performers and as Conference delegates. Following the Telephone meeting with the worl

A number of reasons have lead to this decision, but mainly the funding deadlines for assistance with the Conference and the need Notes on Brisbane Phone Meeting May 26th between Andrea Taman to attract organisational support through a major venue. and the Steering Committee as listed below.

This timeline also gives more time for industry members to Those in attendance agreed to form the Steering Commitee for the respond to notices regarding the conference presently being Proposed Puppet Festival and Conference 1994/5. distributed. SteerinQ Committee It is felt that whilst the change of dates represents a new year, it PRESENT: Pat Zuber, (puppeteer/community artsworker), Alan Rogers would not be too far into the future for people to remember. 1995 (CAO, Brisbane City Council), John Kotsis (Education Officer, Qld is also a Come Out Festival year and with early notification, Performing Arts), Florence Teillet (performer/trainee Brisbane Ethnic Companies and individuals should be able to schedule both events Music and Arts Centre), Bernie Ehmer (puppeteer/Enhmers Puppets), into their programme. David Hamilton (puppeteer), Garry Fuhmeister (puppeteer/Treasurer, UNIMA) - telephone participant Andrea Tamen (puppeteer, community Due to the dual focus of the event, it is suggested that initial tasks artsw'0rker - W.A. Network). be divide into FESTIVAL and CONFERENCE, and that the Steering Committee (Brisbane) continue to liaise and inform details on the Patricia Zuber· has agreed to act as general contact FESTIVAL and that Jennifer Davidson(Pres. UNIMA Aust.) remain person. reponsible for CONFEHENCE details. Andrea Taman will be available to liaise with both areas and provide support where necessary. This meeting managed to clarify some points of question and on the basis of present timing for funding applications and other local concerns, the following decisions have been made: It is recommended to the Brisbane FEST:VAL Steering Committee •That the Festival/Conference be held between May/June/July • That the steering committee decide on the location of the 1995. Festival/Conference by no later than Sept 1993. •That investigations be made as lo exact location, eitl1er Brisbane • Organisational details continue to work toward this 1995 Metro or the Gold Coast. (This will need to be determined bearing in timeframe. mind venues, availability and transport along with local knowledge and advice.

• Tll,, · investigations be made as to the possib.le linking with the Queensland Biennial Music Festival.( Also May June 1995) IPA.GIB 2 IPA.Gl!B 3

• That the Steering Committee provide a comprehensive list of News .Prow. venues within the central buisiness district of the chosen location.

the Mo.--\-h •Continue to liaise with Jennifer Davidson and Andrea Taman on outcome of meetings etc.

• Tll,, · investigations be made as to the possib.le linking with the Queensland Biennial Music Festival.( Also May June 1995) IPA.GIB 4 IPA.GIB S •That funding applications be made to the Brisbane City Council NSW NEWS under their Festival Grants Programme. It is envisage that assistance with venues etc for the performance programme be We begin with bad news. There have been dishonest requested up to $10.000 businesspeople operating in the Sydney area that have been exploiting people's interest in learning about Puppetry. The word is: • That and application be made to the P .A.8. of the Australia Council Be wary of any course in Puppetry that requires payment for for assistance withe the Conference possibly for the closing date the course AND offers you employment with the 'school' when you June 1994. have finished doing the course. Be wary of anyone offered an 'Apprenticeship in Puppetry' (This application wil be made through Jennifer Davidson (President at a wage we 7 7 below the Actors' Award "because you' re still UNIMA Australia.) learning" and with no payment for rehearsal. Young women in particular seem to be the target of this one. Check with TAFE regarding the bona fides of the apprenticeship and with Actors Futher information: Equity or the Department of Labour and Industry regarding minimum wages and conditions. Jennifer Davidson On to more positive things: President UNIMA Australia 62 Yori< Street, GRASSHOPPER brought "The Overcoat" up to Sydney for a preview in June. It has been approved by the NSW Dept of Education and Greg SANDY BAY TAS. 7005 Tel: (002) 236546 Howard at School Performance Tours has taken it on for touring high schools. Andrea Tarnan 13 Samson Street There is a chance for puppeteers to get together over Easter Tel: (09) 3361004 /2200672 next year in Canberra. The National Folk Festival organises a Kid's FREMANTLE W.A. 6160 Festival session. There is a marquee set aside for it and it could be a terrific four days of festival and natter. If there are some Pat Zuber puppeteers interested in performing, I think we could easily get P.O. Box 460 a mini 'Festival within a festival'organised. The money is minimal but you get free admission to an excellent festival as part of the SOUTH BRISBANE OLD 4101 Tel: (07) 8461218 deal. There is camping and caravanning on-site. Anyone interested? Please contact me on (02) 631-0613 by no later than the First of October. The Puppetry Guild's Annual Puppeteers' Picnic is on for Monday 4 October at The Rocks Puppet Cottage. To volunteer your services, 0

v\ \ C Cl. 0 v'\ h 0. b 12 ('(\(.\U. 0 be it Puppetry or as dog's body, ring John Davis on (046) 25-3805 A � '("n. t a.?� \ r� S. e. '{\ e_ \ evenings.

0..V\ 0\_ VY\ Q.v\ \ .Q0 'I\ -th� Q u e. e. '(\ �\ G ()\(�v--n \o cl The Rocks Puppet Cottage is still going strong with thousands of people traipsing through on weekends and school holidays. The --\-he. G-..��C)-\V\-\:\(V\Q.\/\'"\' D�U.V\ 0..V'\.s. -.NDV-\"\,e.,I{' hoardings across the laneway are down at last. Sue and Steve from Sydney Puppet Theatre have been doing a delightful show featuring trick marionettes from their Wonderland work. They leave in August Co. V'\\\ � l)., \ � lf'O G...V\, 10 I{''(' y OU i \ ul/\ cA, wov:_\. cl for a long holiday in South Asia.

v\ \ C Cl. 0 v'\ h 0. b 12 ('(\(.\U. 0 be it Puppetry or as dog's body, ring John Davis on (046) 25-3805 A � '("n. t a.?� \ r� S. e. '{\ e_ \ evenings.

tOV\ Rt◊vH� · C\� Jonquil Temple, Jan Paton and Richard Bradshaw all went to San cnov-ct\V\CJ\.'\'.. . \'pv�btv- Francisco for the Puppeteers of America's Festval in July. Richard performed but I don't know who else was on the bill. At the same time Darren Carr went to the Annual ConVENTion of American Ventriloquists (NAAV) in Cincinnati. They were having Valentine Vox, the English vent who wrote a history of Ventriloquism "I Can See Your Lips Moving." Me, I only got as far as Tasmania. Dennis VENT DAY ------======lPAOlB7 a v t l e e a e s s t e •� 'P�pp �m k r' .workshop' in T e Rock i � � �� i;�dp�i �� a h etee • uy guin. Guy is a French pupp r from Noumea who as e a 1 h a r gul r c h' ld re s a e Caledonian television. n progr mm on New se A lf- taught vent s ·1 ee t e t skill with ve t l s � ch ck ou hi� n ri oqui �� =� e� a as e e a �� on, � none ba Wh n h sked what a s e est r him. w h � way to lear e t l s couldn't res st v t e � V n ri oqui m, I i gi ing h clas sic s e a t Handspan Puppet Theatre'smost recent small rocking horse was used to shift a t e an w r: Gr c 1ce , gractice , gr c ic ! offering,meta four is a collection of focus foran instant while the floating e l w n a tourist a e a four short works by company puppet figurewas en-masked. a et�� =s� � ;! �j � w lk d in nd Basil Smith f c Y ! h e t as a e . oo w PUPPE;teer . "Yes a e t e members, Katy Bowman, Michele 'Light Dance' (K.B.) was an r p 1Y "I am t e e t l . " c m h ' h v n r i oqu1st off the cruise s ' Spooner, Avril McQueen and Lizz experimentinvolving the human form I t was Dan Axel hip now in harbour." rod York vent who a l Talbot covered with many small mirrors and a s e al ses ' works m in y in nightcl s nd p ci i in dfa�!�t hum ub It waspart of the MelbourneFringe themanipulation of light - a potentially t t our. I urned into quite a day. Festival and the firstwork programmed audience confronting technique as by Handspan's new artistic director, beamsof light werescanned over and at Dennis Murphy Ken Evans. It sees a reconsolidation of them. technique and approach.As Ken Evans 'Rights of Passage' (Michele Spooner) commented, "It's back to basics stuff came as awelcome change of rhythm THE no text, no actors, just puppets." containing ritualistic/ceremonial The idea behindmeta four was to elements and delved into the object ROCKS foster Handspan's members new work. manipulator relationship.White on Performing in Fringe allows room to whiteBunraku style, the puppeteer experiment with a completely new operating the puppet's head with her PUPPET piece. Each piece was conceived by one mouth. Her movement mirrored the of the women who took part in puppet's action, broken by moments of performingeach others work. 'the illusion of interaction'... The most COTTAG Essentially,the pieces were an dramatic of the short works, the drama explorationof medium and technique. was underscored by the use of There were times during the percussive elements - bamboo poles. ENTERTAINMENT performance when I sat imagining that Meta four overallwas economic in THE WHOLE FAMILY these women must have grown octopus design, Black theatre style, there were CAN ENJOY! limbs; I was having trouble trying to no distractionsfrom focus on the conceive how they had managed to puppets. Floating, transforming, realise a particular image. appearingand disappearing figuresand Kendall Katy Bowman's 'Cycle' was a objects. The pieces conveyed their Lane, off Argyle Street wonderfullyriveting series of narrative components through a visual transformations as a mound of fabric language of symbols and although I'm (brown paper) metamorphasised froma not surethat this always managed to The Rocks Puppet Cottage is a large pyramid to tiny sphere into a transfereffectively to the audience, they magical and educational constantly stretching and changing all definitelyhad their sublime moments experience for the young and the human figure. and were opento interpretation froman young at heart. The home of 'Wired' (Lizz Talbot) opened with a activelyengaged audience, thanks to puppetry is housed in a beautifully strikingimage of� medifiedBunraku masterful use of technique. Each piece, restored sandstone cottage festooned style puppet made frompredominantly I felt,was in itself potential material for with a colourful collection of puppets aluminium and wire curled up on what further development ..! should also from around the world. appeared to be asacrificial pyre. This mentionthe lighting - designed by piece had a mythological flavour- Philip Lethlean which contributedto the floatingsnakes, red feathers- and overall effectivenessof meta four. Free performances every suggested an exploration of female Saturday and Sunday and identity. throughout "Fluid Form (Katie Bowman), a short school interlude incorporatingthe elements of holidays light, music, the form of the female figure,and a manipulated elastic object For inquiries - fabricstretched over a bendable & performance times ellipse-shaped frame. please telephone 247 4972 "The Insider" (Avril McQueen) , while indefinitein its narrativecontent and certainly open to interpretation, it was a The Rocks Puppet Cottage marvellous piece of manipulation to is an initiative of the watch. Making use of several puppets, Sydney Cove Authority it was a seriesof transformingbut culturally recognisable images. The h:mcl wa.� m1kh�r than the eve - a verv VENT DAY ------======lPAOlB7 a v t l e e a e s s t e •� 'P�pp �m k r' .workshop' in T e Rock i � � �� i;�dp�i �� a h etee • uy guin. Guy is a French pupp r from Noumea who as e a 1 h a r gul r c h' ld re s a e Caledonian television. n progr mm on New se A lf- taught vent s ·1 ee t e t skill with ve t l s � ch ck ou hi� n ri oqui �� =� e� a as e e a �� on, � none ba Wh n h sked what a s e est r him. w h � way to lear e t l s couldn't res st v t e � V n ri oqui m, I i gi ing h clas sic s e a t Handspan Puppet Theatre'smost recent small rocking horse was used to shift a t e an w r: Gr c 1ce , gractice , gr c ic ! offering,meta four is a collection of focus foran instant while the floating e l w n a tourist a e a four short works by company puppet figurewas en-masked. a et�� =s� � ;! �j � w lk d in nd Basil Smith f c Y ! h e t as a e . oo w PUPPE;teer . "Yes a e t e members, Katy Bowman, Michele 'Light Dance' (K.B.) was an r p 1Y "I am t e e t l . " c m h ' h v n r i oqu1st off the cruise s ' Spooner, Avril McQueen and Lizz experimentinvolving the human form I t was Dan Axel hip now in harbour." rod York vent who a l Talbot covered with many small mirrors and a s e al ses ' works m in y in nightcl s nd p ci i in dfa�!�t hum ub It waspart of the MelbourneFringe themanipulation of light - a potentially t t our. I urned into quite a day. Festival and the firstwork programmed audience confronting technique as by Handspan's new artistic director, beamsof light werescanned over and at Dennis Murphy Ken Evans. It sees a reconsolidation of them. technique and approach.As Ken Evans 'Rights of Passage' (Michele Spooner) commented, "It's back to basics stuff came as awelcome change of rhythm THE no text, no actors, just puppets." containing ritualistic/ceremonial The idea behindmeta four was to elements and delved into the object ROCKS foster Handspan's members new work. manipulator relationship.White on Performing in Fringe allows room to whiteBunraku style, the puppeteer experiment with a completely new operating the puppet's head with her PUPPET piece. Each piece was conceived by one mouth. Her movement mirrored the of the women who took part in puppet's action, broken by moments of performingeach others work. 'the illusion of interaction'... The most COTTAG Essentially,the pieces were an dramatic of the short works, the drama explorationof medium and technique. was underscored by the use of There were times during the percussive elements - bamboo poles. ENTERTAINMENT performance when I sat imagining that Meta four overallwas economic in THE WHOLE FAMILY these women must have grown octopus design, Black theatre style, there were CAN ENJOY! limbs; I was having trouble trying to no distractionsfrom focus on the conceive how they had managed to puppets. Floating, transforming, realise a particular image. appearingand disappearing figuresand Kendall Katy Bowman's 'Cycle' was a objects. The pieces conveyed their Lane, off Argyle Street wonderfullyriveting series of narrative components through a visual transformations as a mound of fabric language of symbols and although I'm (brown paper) metamorphasised froma not surethat this always managed to The Rocks Puppet Cottage is a large pyramid to tiny sphere into a transfereffectively to the audience, they magical and educational constantly stretching and changing all definitelyhad their sublime moments experience for the young and the human figure. and were opento interpretation froman young at heart. The home of 'Wired' (Lizz Talbot) opened with a activelyengaged audience, thanks to puppetry is housed in a beautifully strikingimage of� medifiedBunraku masterful use of technique. Each piece, restored sandstone cottage festooned style puppet made frompredominantly I felt,was in itself potential material for with a colourful collection of puppets aluminium and wire curled up on what further development ..! should also from around the world. appeared to be asacrificial pyre. This mentionthe lighting - designed by piece had a mythological flavour- Philip Lethlean which contributedto the floatingsnakes, red feathers- and overall effectivenessof meta four. Free performances every suggested an exploration of female Saturday and Sunday and identity. throughout "Fluid Form (Katie Bowman), a short school interlude incorporatingthe elements of holidays light, music, the form of the female figure,and a manipulated elastic object For inquiries - fabricstretched over a bendable & performance times ellipse-shaped frame. please telephone 247 4972 "The Insider" (Avril McQueen) , while indefinitein its narrativecontent and certainly open to interpretation, it was a The Rocks Puppet Cottage marvellous piece of manipulation to is an initiative of the watch. Making use of several puppets, Sydney Cove Authority it was a seriesof transformingbut culturally recognisable images. The h:mcl wa.� m1kh�r than the eve - a verv lPAGlB8 PAGlB9

SCHOOLS ENCOUNTER - Charleville-Mezieres - JuneOuly '93 Josef Krofta : PUPPET THEATRE AND ALTERNATIVE I have recentlyreturned from time in Japan and Europe,observing Puppet THEATRE. companies and schoolsof puppetry in their trainingprocess and was impressedby what I saw. Following is a brief account of the 2nd InternationalEncounter of Puppetry Schools, presentedin associationwith the Institut Internationalde la Marionnette at _Recently, Hannah Kodlcek went to Czechoslovakia to Charleville Mezieresin France. documentary for BBC MargaritaNiculescu, Directorof the PuppetryInstitut in Charleville, is the record a Television on Czech initiator of this project puppetry. After filming excerpts from Smetana's opera " Thesuccess of the firstschools encounter in 1990, led to a schoolspresentation The Bartered Bride", performed by the Bohemian Puppet in Ljubljana at the 1992 UNIMAFestival. At this yearsencounter, 15 schoolswere Theatre company "DRAK", she Interviewed Its artistic scheduled to appearon theprogramme. A last minute withdrawaldue to illness came director JOSEF KROFTA. As Krofta has also been fromthe Berlinschool. At the end of the conferenceI was told that the standard of student from this year was appointed Head of Department at the newly renamed not quite at the level of the firstencounter of students. I must say that I was very Faculty of Puppetry and Alternative Theatre at Prague impressed by the depth of work coming out of the schools.From Prague to London, Academy of the Arts, she also asked whether there will Poland to Stuttga.it,Norway ty the PuppetryInstitut in Charleville, the varietyof be some changes In th� Czech approach to modern technique and style was as diverseas the schools themselves. Given the title "Myth" as a subject to work on, each schools work, whether it puppetry. There follows an edited transcript of the be a solo piece or a group presented work, cpvereda particularmythology related to the interview, first published In. ANIMATIONS, Aug/Sept. respectiveculture associated with that school. 1991 I will not go through all presentations but feel that the Prague school requires specialmention. "La tourde Babel", a work by the studentsof theAcademie desArts in Prague in association with the PuppetryInstitut, Charleville, starring our very own Bob What Is your policy as Head of Department? Parsons, (Terripin,Spare Parts fame) opened proceedings. Theschools director, Josef Our students need contact with real artists: not just teachers or Krofta (knownby many here in Australia) createda wonderfulwork with his multi national cast, merging actorwith puppet/object to create an excitingand at timesrather famous personalities, but creative · people who are able to study breathtaking performance.In fact,I feltthat the work coming out of the Pragueschool the theatre as a branch together with the students. Studying was the most challenging and developing work dealing with the puppet/puppeteer means attempting something in practice, trying again and again relationship.Krofta and his designer Petr Matjsec have the capacityto give their work a from different points of view. I try to gather students and senseof mystery, which allows us as an audience to fillthe fantasy, thus revealing teachers who love to study theatre by making theatre. I want to moments of magic. It was interestingto note that at least 50% of schools presenting work used bring up a generation of artists who would devote themselves to shadows in a varietyof ways. Thework presentedby the schoolscame from 1st year being in the forefront of the renaissance of puppetry. After all it through to 4th year students. Each school had workedon their pieces from3-8 weeks, is the least chartered terrain in the theatre. as part of their course and as part of knowingthat they would bepresenting at the schools encounter. Not all works werea knockout, but I feltit an important exercise forthe students to exchange their work and ideas with each other. Puppetry was centralto all What do you think about anlmatronics? school courses, although subjects like TheatreHistory, Voice, Movement, and Malting A sensitive understanding of a performance requires the sensitive were as much a part of the training. involvement of the audience. It is hard to be in awe of I have the feelingthat puppetryis very much alive in Europe. I look forwardto the next 10 years with greatanticipation and excitementto observewhere puppetry is animatronics because it excludes the viewer from the life of the moving to and to share the influenceit has on mainstreamtheatre .. puppet. Imitating nature down to the last detail is not the aim of The schools encounter was an invaluable 8 days. It gave me the opportunityto the puppeteer. Besides, it is boring to watch. The mystery lies in observe the training technique and process of a varietyof schools and to look forthe the imperfection, when the child's fantasy can color in all sorts freshness and innovation one always looks forin the next wave of thinking. of things. This is when a miracle happens. A piece of cloth PEIBRWILSON without features becomes a puppet if it is handled sensitively. ARTISTICDIRECTOR-SKYLARK THEATRE CO. Maybe we should remind ourselves more often that the word "to animate" doesn't mean "to make move", but "to give a soul", from the Latin word "anima". This is terribly important. To breathe a soul into an object doesn't mean making a perfect copy of it. A good animator isn't someone who can make a puppet twist a piece lPAGlB8 PAGlB9

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PUPPETRY IN THE NINETIES a fork. That is just craftsmanship. An artist of spaghetti on OR makes us believe that any object he touches is alive and "en souled", that it has a soul. HOW TO OPERATE THE COMPUTER INTERFACE FOR A FULL SIZE HYDRAULIC ROBOT TYRANNOSAURUS REX. by Philip Millar Your theatre makes a policy of playing for both children Artistic Director and adults. So, what makes you decide which play Is Polyglot Puppet Theatre suitable for puppets? Or rather, when to use puppets and Melbourne when to use live actors? is in combination with From mid April to mid July this year I was fortunateto be able to travel to the United To me, the best way of using puppets Kingdom and the United States of America to study advances in puppetry in film, actors but there must always be a good reason for the puppets to television and theatre. I visited numerous puppet workshops and theatres under the be there; they must not simply be a replacement for an actor. I terms of a Churchill Fellowship. My trip gave me the opportunity to observe a wide range of technical approaches, new materials and techniques, a variety of control have to stress again that we must never get to the point where of puppets systems and trends within puppetry. My feelingis that regardless of our chosen tools, we are bringing little robots to the stage. The value puppeteers are quite alike in their goals. irreplaceability as vehicles for our imagination. For lies in their \ example, Eugene Schwartz's "Dragon", which is an allegorical 1 My study took me from the HENSON CREATURE SHOP in London where "The fairy tale about a power that usurps a little town, might seem a Flintstones" puppets were under construction to STAN WINSTON'SSTUDIO in Van as real actors and Nuys, L� where the ."J�ra�sic Park" dinosaurs where built._ Despite the overwhelming very good opportunity to cast the townspeople I j complex1ty and soph1st1cation of much of the puppet making that I observed, it was _ to use a puppet dragon. In fact, Eugene Schwartz himself reassunng to see that the role of puppeteer remains central to the eventual performance, recommended this. Instead, I decided to do it the other way whether on film,television or the stage. The means of manipulating a creature may a human actor as the dragon who literally have changed but the essential nature of the puppeteer's intention, to instil lifeand around, casting character into a inanimate form,remains basic. manipulates the townspeople, who are puppets, by pulling their of portraying their total lack strings. This, to me, is a better way ) The HENSON CREATURE SHOP in Camden was working at full speed when I of freedom. visited in April. The workshop was building about twenty fivecharacters for"The Flintstones" movie, including suit and puppet versions of Dino and the sabre toothed cat. Nearly one hundred makers had been working on the project formore than ten weeks and there was a definite sense of a fastapproaching deadline. Tell us a little more about your plans for the School. Does the change In the name to encompass alternative Many of_the pu�pets were designed forsingle scenes or sometimes single shots, yet that some of the new teachers would still reqmre weeks of work. The house style of foam latex skins over heavily theatre reflect the fact mechanised armatures with a computer assisted control system kept many peoplevery are not puppet theatre practitioners? husy. However a fewmakers noted that often a simpler, less mechanical solution I brought together people whose work steps outside the would be more appropriate but the production line which had been established tended to classical puppet theatre. Our School lock the workshop into a set approach. framework of drama and ' ' shouid be a place where we can ;ook for and find the new face of Major charac rs lik� Dino equired both suit and pup t versions, with three separate with puppet theatre as one of the theatrical � : _ � modern theatre heads; stu�t, hghtwe1ght ammatromc �nd fully_ mechamsed forclose-ups. The close-up alternatives. hea9s can mclude_ as many as twenty-five radio-control servos each controlling a It was a shame in the past that this School only specialised in particular facialmovement. The servos are in turn controlled by an elaborate set of hand controls which allow an individual puppeteerto operate the entire head. The one specific discipline because it avoided confronting other : it can Performance_ Control System won a Technical Achievement Oscar a fewyears back. forms of theatrical expression. We need confrontation The System 1s used to great effect in the firsttwo Ninja Turtle movies and the LA. make us blossom. There is so much still unexplored in puppet based "Dinosaur" series. theatre, so much we have to learn about ourselves. We won't have time to find all the answers, but one of the reasons that I am Ironically, the technical advances incorporated into the Creature Shop's puppets have people to take note of now been supersede�. Computer Generated Imagery (COi) will replace the suit and teaching here now is that I wish to nudge p ppet approach. Dmo the puppet is now useful only for lighting tests on set, with all out it's secrets. � this mystery and start opening his �ov�me�ts to b� creat�d in a computer at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) in Cahforn1a. Jurassic Park 1 ha<; completely redefinedthe boundaries forcomputer Con.tr. PeW Wilson S � IC\rlc.. n-.c,Cl�e PAOJB 11

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effects in the filmand television worlds and many puppeteers are findingthe change extremely threatening. S'lrlRJINGS A 'lI''lI'A ClHIJBD At the Puppeteers of America Festival in San Francisco, one of the highlights forme hppe1t1rlhie�lbre was a talk given by Steve Williams of ILM. He discussed the development of CGI and showed, through video examples, how the technology had beenused to create characters in "The Abyss", "Terminator 2" and most recently, in "Jurassic Park". The Norbet Hausberg, founder of Strings basic thrust of the talk was that computers are capable of creating photo realistic Attached Puppet theatre in 1983 has recently simulations of real or invented creatures, of an almost infinitevariety of image published NZ' s first multilingual booklet manipulations and distortions and that digital image control was quite simply the way of about his puppet theatre. "Strings Attached", the future. illustrated page for page with photographs, includes an interesting sequence outlining Working with conventional puppet animators and a mime coach for movement lessons, how Norbert goes about making a simple the ILM animators created about six minutes of phenomenal animation for "Jurassic marionette. It sells for $ NZ 11 incl. postage Park" including the Gallimimus stampede and the final sequence. The bulk of the to Australia and I estimate that it would be · film'sdinosaur effectswere achieved with Stan Winston's live action puppet quite popular with children ... my daughter dinosaurs. NeverL':ieless,Steve Williams hinted strongly that it was simply a matter of thought so. time beforecomputer technology could more quickly and cheaply achievethe same Norbert generally works to children, but his current show is aimed at a more adult effects as the live action puppets. audience dealing with New Zealand and its While the advances of CGI loom on the horizon, animatronic puppetry is still creating hislory. He plans to visit Melbourne in remarkable images on screen. The full-scale tyrannosaurus puppet used on set for December and may very well be interested in "Jurassic Park" is an impressive piece of work. When I visited the Winston Studio the meeting UNIMA members. T-Rex was in bits, as storage of a 40 foot long dinosaur is a problem. The arms were To order a copy or for further lying on a bench while the eyes were stuck in a box, together with the Velociraptor and details /enquiries please contact Dilophosaurus eye mechanisms. Norbert Hausberg STRINGS ATTTACHED Puppet Theatre PO Box 1060 The sculpting of the T-Rex took sixteen weeks with ten sculptors, working every day. WELLINGTON The scale of the project was quite awesome. Huge ovens were used to bake the foam NEW ZEALAND latex skins which covered the elaborate hydraulic and radio controlled skeleton. 1Creating, .. a::world Now, in answer to the question posed in my title, to operate the creature the puppeteers did what puppeteershave been doing forcentu ries; they held the controls and M'ithhis puppets manipulated them to bring their character to life. MASTgn puppeteer, Norbert· cleverness though distracts lhe nuerg cre!!tc:-1his own worlds. Mug- e11cc from the story. ']'he puppet's face ,Puppets have a long and 1cul uhens, gcmcs thut fly, und emotions is importunt nml exag-geruted hunds. emerging from boxes ns lmppcts. 'I'hcse Your school might sec Muslnphu nnc.l In this case the controls were handles on a fourth scale computer interface waldo ure ul! purls of u worl<. he loves und tho J(uuri GiunL. This piny iH n multi ,curious history to them shnrel::i with others in his one mun culturnl tulc uhout un endangered for mechanism and the character was a fullsize dinosaur mounted on a flight simulator but 'Strings Atluchcd Puppet 'l'hculre'. est. It took Norbert uhoul five 1no11ths IU-:AD these puppet fuels Norbert writes his own pluys, designs, to create. the intention was still the same. Movements of the small scale puppet were fed into a then druw u curloon uhout cnrvcs nml clothes ull his puppets tmd Mc studied Muori Jcgemls mid found one of them. mnkei, ull the scehery. some of the creatures nncl chornctcrs computer which then fedcontrol instructions to the full size puppet. With the 1 II Puppet. shows were / Ile grew up in \Vest Germnny the were simiJur to thmiC fro111 the guro pcrfonucd in lndiu U!i loug ·home of over l ,U0U puppet tlwutr!}S. pcun legends he k1ww so well. computer, movements could be recorded, edited, speeded up, slowed down or operated us •IOOO yearn ugo. ,After studying ,ut, u puppetry curccr in "Other cultures ure importunt to me. live. In this way the T-Rex could be operated in very close to the .actors with very ■ J ii .some couut ric8 Germnny wusu't such n strange choice. We ull bought something to New Zeu puppets wcrC'llHCd Jo11g I "Ruropc hns u lot of puppetry on lund without knowinJ?" it. The Irish precise interaction. before human uctors television unutupoiurclwwork tugctl1cr. 'noble' Jmtron. Those ;They're not very good critics." I fo first writes u pluy for himself, us u whatever medium are striving forbasically similar goals. While a Theatre in Education without one were urrestc

JPA01B 14 NEWS ROUND-UP ...----- AUSTRALIAN CENTRE- INTERNATIONALm THEATRE INSTITUTE ------. The Australian Centre of ITI is a performing arts information service that promotes international exchange. The following is reprinted from the ITI NEWS ROUND-UP, the Centre's bi-monthly newsletter. For further details on these items or other ITI services contact: 8Af245 Chalmer� Street, REDFERN, NSW 2016. Tel: (02) 319 0718. Fax: (02) 698 3557.

FESTIVALS AND EVENTS DUCK& co PUPPET THEATRE Overseas ..199 4 New Zealand International Arts Festival, Wellington Feb25- Mar18 ....Cele brate ..•. -)>�e "'e '1t,t,g • •.• ·• Australia, Japan, commences in Nov. Largest event ever undertaken by Australia in Japan, will include a tour by the Australian Ballet, the Australia Ensemble, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, Chrome, the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre , Stalker, Alan Dargin, Stretch Markl, Playbox Theatre, Southern Crossings, Handspan Theatre and Chamber Made Opera Company., •.• The 13th Festival of Theatre for Young People, Aarau, Switzerland Nov 12-21 will feature Swiss and international groups and,companies performing theatre for young audiences ..• The 2nd International Puppet Festival, Lahore, Pakistan Octl0-20 '94, Hosted by Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop. Invites the participation of Australian puppet groups. They are prepared to cover all local expenses, accommodation, transportationto festival venues & visits to places of interest. Address included.in this Newsletter, (see page+) .....Styrian Fall, founded 25 years ago as a festi�al for contemporary c&.4ure, wHl take place"irrGraz,Germany, Oct. Since the beginning of the 90's the festival has tried to show interdisciplinary points of reference in art & endeavours to encourage audiences' reflective irony as well as curious amazement. A long list of events in theprogram, including theatre and dance performances, concerts, a film festival, various exhibitions & symposiums dealing with art and culture. Australia... A Fringe Festival is on the drawing board of Gorman House Art Centre Inc & the Arts Council of the ACT to be held biannually from March'95. Potential participants or interested persons should contact the Gorman House Arts Centre on (06) 249 7377 ....The Melbourne International Festival of the Arts,Sept 9-25 ... WORKSHOPS AND TRAINING Overseas The 2nd International Winter Workshop School on the performing arts of SouthIndia willbe on Janl-30 '94, Kerala, India & will feature the dance theatre form Kathakali, the martial artform Kalarippayattu, South Indian Vocal & Percussion, Yoga, Folk Theatre, Mask Making, Puppetry & Costume. The school seeks participants who are students or practitioners of dance, music, theatre & the visual arts .... Theatre Management: Building New Audiences is an international residential seminar for arts managers, administrators or theatre artists organised by The British Council to be held in Glasgow, Leicester and London Aprl0-23 '94. The seminar will be jointly directed by Gerald Lindstone (Goldsmith's College, Uni of London) and Professor Noel Witts (De Montfort University, Leicester) and expects contributions from 15 leading arts organisations in England. Applications close Dec 10. OPPORTUNITIES The Japan Cultural Centre offers up to $1000in partial assistanceto non-profit organisations involved in staging Japan related programs or events in Australia...•• The Japan/South Australia Cultural Exchange Program assistance to South Australian professional artists wishing to visit Japan to extend their artistic skills. Sponsored by the Bank of Tokyo, closing date is Oct29 •.. Ansett Australia now offers a 5% rebate on domestic airfares.& a 9% rebate on international airfares to recipients of funding from the Australia Council. These special fares are subject to certain conditions, but it is worth a try. for details contact ITI. NEWS Jodie Edwards, a secondary-school drama teacher, will be attending the Akademi Seni Tari Indonesia in Bandung, Java. She will be studying traditional drama, dance, music and puppetry to pass these skills onto her students in Australia. Jodie was awarded a scholarship by the Indonesian ( not Australian) government.

Address for Pakistan Festival kindly forwarded by Leslie Trowbridge MR FAIZAAN PEERZADA PRESIDENT PAKISTAN FESTIVAL 1994 # 25-F/3 BLOCK-D. NATIONAL HOMES NEWMUSLIM TOWN LAHORE TEL: 839122 FAX: 867440 Sorry I don't have the prefixes. lPAOlB 15

FROM THE EDITOR Greetings. As I sit writing this in late August, I realise that in all possibility by the time this reaches you the Newsletter stands a good chance of being tardy. Response to my plea for State News gatherers, introductions and information was mixed. On the one hand, I have had some welcome contributions from those recently arrived back from foreign climes. On the other, there has been no response, particularly from the western States. I have also had an enthusiastic response fromsome of our New Zealand members. It seems that puppetry is alive, well and flourishingover there. And of course, regular contributors and news gatherers forthe Newsletter have again come through. A suggestion from Dennis Murphy was that I tell you about my background in puppetry. My first introduction to puppetry in practice was in 1987. I was studying Stagecraft/Performance in a Certificate course offeredby TAFE after having spent the previous 8years travelling around Australia, Pacific and SE Asia and becoming a parent. The puppetry teacher in that course was Andrew Hanson of Handspan Theatre. It was a very basic but thorough grounding that spanned a period of 12 weeks. (It was helpful to have had previous craft and design skills and a familiarity with various mediums.) My interest and practice in puppetry continued while studying further at Melbourne University. I am currently doing my finalyear Dramaturgy component of an Arts Degree. I received a Writer's Grant from Melbourne Uni Theatre Board in 1992 for a piece I am still working on. For the immediate present I am directing a cast of 10 in a puppetry/acting fusion, written collectively with 6 other students. "Honk If You're On Lithium" is a black comedy that explores the notion of normality by examining various aspects of mental illness. The puppetry elements of this play are extremely simple, and I hope therefore, achievable by my beginner puppeteers, effectivity relying on their placement within the overall structure of the play. This is scheduled to open on the 15th Sept. at the Open Stage (er Swanston St and Grattan St, Carlton) and consequently I am frantically busy right now. I am a shameless eclectic, have an adventurous nature and consequently my artistic pursuits are generally on the experimental side, being particularly interested in cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary practices. Generally, I think that the audience needs to be respected, a certain amount of engagement and/or readability is necessary for your spectators and I try to resist being too obscure or self-indulgent. I beEeve tha.t a performance/ cultural theory and performance practice interface has something definite to offer in terms of strengthening and clarifying our work, both individually and collectively. An awareness of the responsibilities of representation and, paradoxically, audience manipulation is certainly something that has become a keen focus for me since being introduced to dramaturgical thinking. I think an open and active discourse on these topics is to be encouraged and this Newsletter is one of a few possible forums available to Australian puppeteers. I think that it's important for the Australian puppetry community to not only draw together, but to be actively engaged in discourse and a cross-fertilisation of ideas. I realise that there are many different styles of work, many different target audiences and different working motivations. Nevertheless, this shouldn't inhibit open discussion. If you have any concerns, queries, topics for debate, information, please send them for the next issue (December); I will be looking forward to receiving some copy...... Ed.